While playing high school soccer, Molly Caron of Raynham took a knee to the back of the head and suffered a concussion that took months to heal.

Now a soccer player for Emerson College, she is the inspiration behind a bill filed by state Rep. Angelo D’Emilia, R-Bridgewater, and state Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Taunton, that would require baseline neurological testing for student-athletes before they begin playing.

Students would be tested before the sports season. Were a student to suffer a head injury, the pre-season test results could be compared with the results of testing done after the injury.

The bill is aimed at strengthening a set of regulations Gov. Deval Patrick signed into law three years ago. The 2010 law requires annual physicals for students, annual training for coaches and trainers to prevent and recognize concussions, reporting of incidents to the state, and medical clearance before an injured student returns to the field.

Another bill would establish standards for concussion prevention.

The legislation reflects growing awareness of the long-term damage that can result after a student-athlete or a professional athlete suffers a head injury. The problem has captured attention of medical groups, universities and athletic associations across the country.

According to the National Institutes for Health, an estimated 300,000 sport-related traumatic brain injuries – mostly concussions – occur in the U.S. each year. Only car crashes cause more traumatic brain injuries than sports in the 15-24 age group, the institutes say.

Massachusetts schools are required to report sports concussions to the state Department of Public Health. The requirement is fairly new, and data is not yet available.

In a 2011 state Youth Risk Assessment Survey, 20 percent of high school students reported experiencing symptoms of a sports-related brain injury. Seventy percent of high school students participated in a sport.

“If this bill prevents long-term damage for a single student, it will be worth the effort,” Pacheco said.

He said he is familiar with baseline testing because it is already required at some schools.

“But Molly was really the one who brought this specific issue to my attention,” Pacheco said. “She wanted to make sure students who might be in her position were protected, so they didn’t have to go through what she did.”

Paul Wetzel of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, which oversees high school sports, said it’s unclear whether cases of players suffering concussions are rising or whether reporting has improved.

“(It) may simply be that we are counting them better than we ever have, or because many such injuries were previously never reported at all,” he said.

Page 2 of 2 - The MIAA has a longstanding rule that a student who experiences concussion symptoms must be removed from the game and kept out until cleared by medical personnel.

“Some schools do a better job of that than others,” Wetzel said. “A big part of the changes we’re hoping for is to bring everybody in line with the best interests of the athlete.”

Kevin Mackin, football coach and athletic director at Weymouth High, said his school has been fortunate to have an outstanding trainer and team doctor.

“I feel like we’re ahead of the curve, setting a standard for the way concussions are handled,” Makin said.

Wetzel said concussion-awareness programs at schools have created a group of students, parents and faculty members who are more knowledgeable about concussions.

“It is such a big factor to have the parents educated and involved,” Rodgers said. “They see their kids more than we do, and support all their sports activities. It’s good that concussion awareness is changing. It’s in the forefront now.”

Rodgers and other athletic directors said the possibility of suffering a concussion comes with participation in any sport.

“Soccer, and girls soccer especially, has been a surprise to some people, but really, any sport has the potential for collisions, which are a leading cause of concussions,” Rodgers said. “We’ve really tried to keep all our people up-to-date on the latest protocols, and it’s always nice to get a fresh set of eyes on the problem.”

Awareness is only half of the solution, athletic directors and others say. They also talk about doing more to prevent concussions and more closely monitoring students after head injuries occur.

“There has been an evolution in teaching tackling, blocking and every other aspect of sports,” Wetzel said. “And now we never deal with just the student when it comes to an injured student’s return. It’s necessary to consult the parents, teachers and medical people to clear someone for a return to play.”